The book features a collection of ten essays on themes from Aristotle’s Physics. Six of these have been previously published, and four are newly written for this volume. The first five essays are ...
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The book features a collection of ten essays on themes from Aristotle’s Physics. Six of these have been previously published, and four are newly written for this volume. The first five essays are based on single theme, namely Aristotle’s conception of substance as it appears in his physical works. The basic texts here are Physics I-II, but the essays also range quite widely over Aristotle’s other physical works, where these are relevant to his understanding of the notions of substance, matter, and form. The general view of these five essays is that Aristotle’s idea of matter was a winner, but his idea of form certainly was not. The remaining five essays are on various topics from Physics III-VI, with each confined to the text of the Physics itself. The topics covered fall broadly under the headings: space, time, and infinity.Less

Space, Time, Matter, and Form : Essays on Aristotle's Physics

David Bostock

Published in print: 2006-02-16

The book features a collection of ten essays on themes from Aristotle’s Physics. Six of these have been previously published, and four are newly written for this volume. The first five essays are based on single theme, namely Aristotle’s conception of substance as it appears in his physical works. The basic texts here are Physics I-II, but the essays also range quite widely over Aristotle’s other physical works, where these are relevant to his understanding of the notions of substance, matter, and form. The general view of these five essays is that Aristotle’s idea of matter was a winner, but his idea of form certainly was not. The remaining five essays are on various topics from Physics III-VI, with each confined to the text of the Physics itself. The topics covered fall broadly under the headings: space, time, and infinity.

This book presents the general theory of algebras of operators on a Hilbert space, and the modules over such algebras. The new theory of operator spaces is presented early on and the text assembles ...
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This book presents the general theory of algebras of operators on a Hilbert space, and the modules over such algebras. The new theory of operator spaces is presented early on and the text assembles the basic concepts, theory, and methodologies. A major trend in modern mathematics, inspired largely by physics, is toward ‘noncommutative’ or ‘quantized’ phenomena. In functional analysis, this has appeared notably under the name of ‘operator spaces’, which is a variant of Banach spaces which is particularly appropriate for solving problems concerning spaces or algebras of operators on Hilbert space arising in ‘noncommutative mathematics’. The category of operator spaces includes operator algebras, selfadjoint (that is, C*-algebras) or otherwise. Also, most of the important modules over operator algebras are operator spaces. A common treatment of the subjects of C*-algebras, nonselfadjoint operator algebras, and modules over such algebras (such as Hilbert C*-modules), together under the umbrella of operator space theory, is the main topic of the book. A general theory of operator algebras and their modules naturally develops out of the operator space methodology. Indeed, operator space theory is a sensitive enough medium to reflect accurately many important noncommutative phenomena. Using recent advances in the field, the book shows how the underlying operator space structure captures, very precisely, the profound relations between the algebraic and the functional analytic structures involved. The rich interplay between spectral theory, operator theory, C*-algebra and von Neumann algebra techniques, and the influx of important ideas from related disciplines, such as pure algebra, Banach space theory, Banach algebras, and abstract function theory is highlighted. Each chapter ends with a section of notes containing additional information.Less

Operator Algebras and Their Modules : An operator space approach

David P. BlecherChristian Le Merdy

Published in print: 2004-10-07

This book presents the general theory of algebras of operators on a Hilbert space, and the modules over such algebras. The new theory of operator spaces is presented early on and the text assembles the basic concepts, theory, and methodologies. A major trend in modern mathematics, inspired largely by physics, is toward ‘noncommutative’ or ‘quantized’ phenomena. In functional analysis, this has appeared notably under the name of ‘operator spaces’, which is a variant of Banach spaces which is particularly appropriate for solving problems concerning spaces or algebras of operators on Hilbert space arising in ‘noncommutative mathematics’. The category of operator spaces includes operator algebras, selfadjoint (that is, C*-algebras) or otherwise. Also, most of the important modules over operator algebras are operator spaces. A common treatment of the subjects of C*-algebras, nonselfadjoint operator algebras, and modules over such algebras (such as Hilbert C*-modules), together under the umbrella of operator space theory, is the main topic of the book. A general theory of operator algebras and their modules naturally develops out of the operator space methodology. Indeed, operator space theory is a sensitive enough medium to reflect accurately many important noncommutative phenomena. Using recent advances in the field, the book shows how the underlying operator space structure captures, very precisely, the profound relations between the algebraic and the functional analytic structures involved. The rich interplay between spectral theory, operator theory, C*-algebra and von Neumann algebra techniques, and the influx of important ideas from related disciplines, such as pure algebra, Banach space theory, Banach algebras, and abstract function theory is highlighted. Each chapter ends with a section of notes containing additional information.

The United Kingdom has more than 4.2 million public closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras—one for every fourteen citizens. Across the United States, hundreds of video-surveillance systems are ...
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The United Kingdom has more than 4.2 million public closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras—one for every fourteen citizens. Across the United States, hundreds of video-surveillance systems are being installed in town centers, public transportation facilities, and schools at a cost exceeding $100 million annually, and now other Western countries have begun to experiment with CCTV to prevent crime in public places. In light of this expansion and the associated public expenditure, as well as pressing concerns about privacy rights, there is an acute need for an evidence-based approach to inform policy and practice. This book assesses the effectiveness and social costs of not only CCTV, but also other surveillance methods to prevent crime in public space, such as improved street lighting, security guards, place managers, and defensible space. It goes beyond the question of “Does it work?” and examines the specific conditions and contexts under which these methods may have an effect on crime as well as the mechanisms that bring about a reduction in crime. At a time when cities need cost-effective methods to fight crime and the public gradually awakens to the burdens of sacrificing their privacy and civil rights for security, the authors provide this guide to the most effective and non-invasive uses of surveillance to make public places safer from crime.Less

Making Public Places Safer : Surveillance and Crime Prevention

Brandon C. WelshDavid P. Farrington

Published in print: 2009-11-04

The United Kingdom has more than 4.2 million public closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras—one for every fourteen citizens. Across the United States, hundreds of video-surveillance systems are being installed in town centers, public transportation facilities, and schools at a cost exceeding $100 million annually, and now other Western countries have begun to experiment with CCTV to prevent crime in public places. In light of this expansion and the associated public expenditure, as well as pressing concerns about privacy rights, there is an acute need for an evidence-based approach to inform policy and practice. This book assesses the effectiveness and social costs of not only CCTV, but also other surveillance methods to prevent crime in public space, such as improved street lighting, security guards, place managers, and defensible space. It goes beyond the question of “Does it work?” and examines the specific conditions and contexts under which these methods may have an effect on crime as well as the mechanisms that bring about a reduction in crime. At a time when cities need cost-effective methods to fight crime and the public gradually awakens to the burdens of sacrificing their privacy and civil rights for security, the authors provide this guide to the most effective and non-invasive uses of surveillance to make public places safer from crime.

This book builds on and in many ways completes the project of Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff's influential A Generative Theory of Tonal Music. Like the earlier volume, this book is both a ...
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This book builds on and in many ways completes the project of Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff's influential A Generative Theory of Tonal Music. Like the earlier volume, this book is both a music-theoretic treatise and a contribution to the cognitive science of music. After presenting some modifications to Lerdahl and Jackendoff's original framework, the book develops a quantitative model of listeners' intuitions of the relative distances of pitches, chords, and regions from a given tonic. The model is used to derive prolongational structure, trace paths through pitch space at multiple prolongational levels, and compute patterns of tonal tension and attraction as musical events unfold. The consideration of pitch-space paths illuminates issues of musical narrative, and the treatment of tonal tension and attraction provides a technical basis for studies of musical expectation and expression. These investigations lead to a fresh theory of tonal function and reveal an underlying parallel between tonal and metrical structures. Later portions of the book apply these ideas to highly chromatic tonal as well as atonal music. In response to stylistic differences, the shape of pitch space changes and psychoacoustic features become increasingly important, while underlying features of the theory remain constant, reflecting unvarying features of the musical mind. The theory is illustrated throughout by analyses of music from Bach to Schoenberg, and frequent connections are made to the music-theoretic and psychological literature.Less

Tonal Pitch Space

Fred Lerdahl

Published in print: 2005-01-06

This book builds on and in many ways completes the project of Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff's influential A Generative Theory of Tonal Music. Like the earlier volume, this book is both a music-theoretic treatise and a contribution to the cognitive science of music. After presenting some modifications to Lerdahl and Jackendoff's original framework, the book develops a quantitative model of listeners' intuitions of the relative distances of pitches, chords, and regions from a given tonic. The model is used to derive prolongational structure, trace paths through pitch space at multiple prolongational levels, and compute patterns of tonal tension and attraction as musical events unfold. The consideration of pitch-space paths illuminates issues of musical narrative, and the treatment of tonal tension and attraction provides a technical basis for studies of musical expectation and expression. These investigations lead to a fresh theory of tonal function and reveal an underlying parallel between tonal and metrical structures. Later portions of the book apply these ideas to highly chromatic tonal as well as atonal music. In response to stylistic differences, the shape of pitch space changes and psychoacoustic features become increasingly important, while underlying features of the theory remain constant, reflecting unvarying features of the musical mind. The theory is illustrated throughout by analyses of music from Bach to Schoenberg, and frequent connections are made to the music-theoretic and psychological literature.

Building on Bernstein's concept of recontextualization, Foucault's theory of discourse, Halliday's systemic-functional linguistics and Martin's theory of activity sequences, this book defines ...
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Building on Bernstein's concept of recontextualization, Foucault's theory of discourse, Halliday's systemic-functional linguistics and Martin's theory of activity sequences, this book defines discourses as frameworks for the interpretation of reality and presents detailed and explicit methods for reconstructing these frameworks through text analysis. There are methods for analyzing the representation of social action, social actors and the timings and spatial locations of social practices as well as methods for analyzing how the purposes, legitimations and moral evaluations of social practices can be, and are, constructed in discourse. Discourse analytical categories are linked to sociological theories to bring out their relevance for the purpose of critical discourse analysis, and a variety of examples demonstrate how they can be used to this end. The final chapters apply aspects of the book's methodological framework to the analysis of multimodal texts such as visual images and children's toys.Less

Discourse and Practice : New Tools for Critical Analysis

Theo van Leeuwen

Published in print: 2008-04-10

Building on Bernstein's concept of recontextualization, Foucault's theory of discourse, Halliday's systemic-functional linguistics and Martin's theory of activity sequences, this book defines discourses as frameworks for the interpretation of reality and presents detailed and explicit methods for reconstructing these frameworks through text analysis. There are methods for analyzing the representation of social action, social actors and the timings and spatial locations of social practices as well as methods for analyzing how the purposes, legitimations and moral evaluations of social practices can be, and are, constructed in discourse. Discourse analytical categories are linked to sociological theories to bring out their relevance for the purpose of critical discourse analysis, and a variety of examples demonstrate how they can be used to this end. The final chapters apply aspects of the book's methodological framework to the analysis of multimodal texts such as visual images and children's toys.

With urban poverty rising and affordable housing disappearing, the homeless and other “disorderly” people continue to occupy public space in many American cities. Concerned about the alleged ill ...
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With urban poverty rising and affordable housing disappearing, the homeless and other “disorderly” people continue to occupy public space in many American cities. Concerned about the alleged ill effects their presence inflicts on property values and public safety, many cities have wholeheartedly embraced “zero-tolerance” or “broken window” policing efforts to clear the streets of unwanted people. Through an almost completely unnoticed set of practices, these people are banned from occupying certain spaces. Once zoned out, they are subject to arrest if they return—effectively banished from public places. This book offers an exploration of these new tactics that dramatically enhance the power of the police to monitor and arrest thousands of city dwellers. Drawing upon an extensive body of data, the chapters chart the rise of banishment in Seattle, a city on the leading edge of this emerging trend, to establish how it works and explore its ramifications. They demonstrate that, although the practice allows police and public officials to appear responsive to concerns about urban disorder, it is a highly questionable policy—it is expensive, does not reduce crime, and does not address the underlying conditions that generate urban poverty. Moreover, interviews with the banished themselves reveal that exclusion makes their lives and their path to self-sufficiency immeasurably more difficult. At a time when ever more cities and governments in the U.S. and Europe resort to the criminal justice system to solve complex social problems, the book provides a challenge to exclusionary strategies that diminish the life circumstances and the rights of those it targets.Less

Banished : The New Social Control In Urban America

Katherine BeckettSteve Herbert

Published in print: 2009-11-12

With urban poverty rising and affordable housing disappearing, the homeless and other “disorderly” people continue to occupy public space in many American cities. Concerned about the alleged ill effects their presence inflicts on property values and public safety, many cities have wholeheartedly embraced “zero-tolerance” or “broken window” policing efforts to clear the streets of unwanted people. Through an almost completely unnoticed set of practices, these people are banned from occupying certain spaces. Once zoned out, they are subject to arrest if they return—effectively banished from public places. This book offers an exploration of these new tactics that dramatically enhance the power of the police to monitor and arrest thousands of city dwellers. Drawing upon an extensive body of data, the chapters chart the rise of banishment in Seattle, a city on the leading edge of this emerging trend, to establish how it works and explore its ramifications. They demonstrate that, although the practice allows police and public officials to appear responsive to concerns about urban disorder, it is a highly questionable policy—it is expensive, does not reduce crime, and does not address the underlying conditions that generate urban poverty. Moreover, interviews with the banished themselves reveal that exclusion makes their lives and their path to self-sufficiency immeasurably more difficult. At a time when ever more cities and governments in the U.S. and Europe resort to the criminal justice system to solve complex social problems, the book provides a challenge to exclusionary strategies that diminish the life circumstances and the rights of those it targets.

By going beyond the simple question ‘Do women make a difference?’ and delving into the meaning of elected women’s sense of connection of women using this dynamic framework, the results provide ...
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By going beyond the simple question ‘Do women make a difference?’ and delving into the meaning of elected women’s sense of connection of women using this dynamic framework, the results provide insight into factors that encourage substantive representation of women and shape the meaning of gender. They suggest that women may not only transform institutions, but be transformed by them and the larger political environment. To that end, the conclusion suggests six strategies likely to further substantive representation of women at any given level of descriptive representation: (1) strengthening the voices of women on the outside to encourage those on the inside to challenge masculinist values and amass the majorities they need to effect change; (2) electing men who see women as a political group with legitimate needs and interests; (3) strengthening the recruitment of gender conscious women, while nurturing gender consciousness among women inside and outside the institution; (4) increasing the legitimacy of substantive representation of women by casting achievement of such goals in terms consistent with institutional norms; (5) confronting the legitimacy of women’s claims to act for women by rejecting essentialist assumptions; and (6) confronting the contested meaning of substantive representation of women in theory and practice, while simultaneously accommodating the realities women face as actors within institutions with norms and values beyond their control. These strategies in the long term may help determine whether any compromises women make as ‘team players’ will contribute to the regendering of this political institution or simply mean more political jobs for women who reinforce long established norms, and whether ultimately we can expect ‘regendering’ within Congress to transform the nature of partisan political debate or simply reinforce the divisions of contemporary partisan politics.Less

Conclusion: Looking Toward the Future

Debra L. Dodson

Published in print: 2006-05-01

By going beyond the simple question ‘Do women make a difference?’ and delving into the meaning of elected women’s sense of connection of women using this dynamic framework, the results provide insight into factors that encourage substantive representation of women and shape the meaning of gender. They suggest that women may not only transform institutions, but be transformed by them and the larger political environment. To that end, the conclusion suggests six strategies likely to further substantive representation of women at any given level of descriptive representation: (1) strengthening the voices of women on the outside to encourage those on the inside to challenge masculinist values and amass the majorities they need to effect change; (2) electing men who see women as a political group with legitimate needs and interests; (3) strengthening the recruitment of gender conscious women, while nurturing gender consciousness among women inside and outside the institution; (4) increasing the legitimacy of substantive representation of women by casting achievement of such goals in terms consistent with institutional norms; (5) confronting the legitimacy of women’s claims to act for women by rejecting essentialist assumptions; and (6) confronting the contested meaning of substantive representation of women in theory and practice, while simultaneously accommodating the realities women face as actors within institutions with norms and values beyond their control. These strategies in the long term may help determine whether any compromises women make as ‘team players’ will contribute to the regendering of this political institution or simply mean more political jobs for women who reinforce long established norms, and whether ultimately we can expect ‘regendering’ within Congress to transform the nature of partisan political debate or simply reinforce the divisions of contemporary partisan politics.

This chapter shows that rests can have different functions, emphasizing those that have motivic significance. Various means pianists can use to assure continuity and tension over the rest are ...
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This chapter shows that rests can have different functions, emphasizing those that have motivic significance. Various means pianists can use to assure continuity and tension over the rest are described, as are the terms “Atempause” (breathing space) and “Notpause” (rest of necessity).Less

Rests

Heinrich Schenker

Published in print: 2002-06-20

This chapter shows that rests can have different functions, emphasizing those that have motivic significance. Various means pianists can use to assure continuity and tension over the rest are described, as are the terms “Atempause” (breathing space) and “Notpause” (rest of necessity).

Everywhere and Everywhen is an introduction to the ideas and arguments of the central questions that arise when physics meets philosophy: for instance, what are space and time? What are ...
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Everywhere and Everywhen is an introduction to the ideas and arguments of the central questions that arise when physics meets philosophy: for instance, what are space and time? What are Zeno's paradoxes? Are there just three dimensions? Are there other universes? What is the shape of space and how do we know? Why does time seem to pass while space does not? What is the difference between the past and future? Is time travel possible? What is spacetime? What is time according to relativity? What is the difference between left and right? What is a quantum particle? Some of these questions are among the oldest humanity has asked about our place in the world, but some are among the most recent: the book both explores their history and the thinkers that have shaped them, and explains the fundamentals of their current understanding. Readers aren't just spectators to the journey, but are engaged in the debates. This book shows that philosophy, by analyzing fundamental concepts and their relationship to the human experience, has a great deal to say about these profound topics. They are not reserved for physics; as the book demonstrates, philosophy can not only address but help advance our view of our deepest questions about the universe, space, and time, and their implications for humanity. It is aimed at inspiring the reader to think philosophically about the universe revealed by physics.Less

Everywhere and Everywhen : Adventures in Physics and Philosophy

Nick Huggett

Published in print: 2010-01-05

Everywhere and Everywhen is an introduction to the ideas and arguments of the central questions that arise when physics meets philosophy: for instance, what are space and time? What are Zeno's paradoxes? Are there just three dimensions? Are there other universes? What is the shape of space and how do we know? Why does time seem to pass while space does not? What is the difference between the past and future? Is time travel possible? What is spacetime? What is time according to relativity? What is the difference between left and right? What is a quantum particle? Some of these questions are among the oldest humanity has asked about our place in the world, but some are among the most recent: the book both explores their history and the thinkers that have shaped them, and explains the fundamentals of their current understanding. Readers aren't just spectators to the journey, but are engaged in the debates. This book shows that philosophy, by analyzing fundamental concepts and their relationship to the human experience, has a great deal to say about these profound topics. They are not reserved for physics; as the book demonstrates, philosophy can not only address but help advance our view of our deepest questions about the universe, space, and time, and their implications for humanity. It is aimed at inspiring the reader to think philosophically about the universe revealed by physics.

The book examines the central tenets of Hume's epistemology and cognitive psychology. It adopts a two level approach. On the one hand, it considers Hume's thought in its own terms and historical ...
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The book examines the central tenets of Hume's epistemology and cognitive psychology. It adopts a two level approach. On the one hand, it considers Hume's thought in its own terms and historical context. So considered, Hume is viewed as a naturalist, whose project in the first three parts of the first book of the Treatise is to provide an account of the operation of the understanding in which reason is subordinated to custom and other non-rational propensities. Scepticism arises in the fourth part as a form of metascepticism, directed not against first-order beliefs, but against philosophical attempts to ground these beliefs in the ‘space of reasons’. On the other hand, it provides a critique of these tenets from a Kantian perspective. This involves a comparison of the two thinkers on a range of issues, including space and time, causation, existence, induction, and the self. In each case, the issue is seen to turn on a contrast between their underlying models of cognition. Hume is committed to the perceptual model, according to which cognition is regarded as a seeing with the ‘mind's eye’ of the relation between mental contents. By contrast, Kant appeals to a discursive model in which the fundamental cognitive act is judgment, understood as the application of concepts to sensory data. Regarded from the first point of view, Hume's account is deemed a major philosophical achievement, while seen from the second it suffers from a failure to develop an adequate account of concepts and judgments.Less

Custom and Reason in Hume : A Kantian Reading of the First Book of the Treatise

Henry E. Allison

Published in print: 2008-08-07

The book examines the central tenets of Hume's epistemology and cognitive psychology. It adopts a two level approach. On the one hand, it considers Hume's thought in its own terms and historical context. So considered, Hume is viewed as a naturalist, whose project in the first three parts of the first book of the Treatise is to provide an account of the operation of the understanding in which reason is subordinated to custom and other non-rational propensities. Scepticism arises in the fourth part as a form of metascepticism, directed not against first-order beliefs, but against philosophical attempts to ground these beliefs in the ‘space of reasons’. On the other hand, it provides a critique of these tenets from a Kantian perspective. This involves a comparison of the two thinkers on a range of issues, including space and time, causation, existence, induction, and the self. In each case, the issue is seen to turn on a contrast between their underlying models of cognition. Hume is committed to the perceptual model, according to which cognition is regarded as a seeing with the ‘mind's eye’ of the relation between mental contents. By contrast, Kant appeals to a discursive model in which the fundamental cognitive act is judgment, understood as the application of concepts to sensory data. Regarded from the first point of view, Hume's account is deemed a major philosophical achievement, while seen from the second it suffers from a failure to develop an adequate account of concepts and judgments.

Auditory and visual perception is the construction of meaningful objects in the world. Auditory and visual information is substitutable and tradable, and both exist in a common space/time framework. ...
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Auditory and visual perception is the construction of meaningful objects in the world. Auditory and visual information is substitutable and tradable, and both exist in a common space/time framework. However, the construction of objects is not simply based on local regions or temporal segments, but involves contextual information from cells that encode adjacent temporal segments or distant retinal points.Less

Summing Up

Stephen Handel

Published in print: 2006-05-25

Auditory and visual perception is the construction of meaningful objects in the world. Auditory and visual information is substitutable and tradable, and both exist in a common space/time framework. However, the construction of objects is not simply based on local regions or temporal segments, but involves contextual information from cells that encode adjacent temporal segments or distant retinal points.

This chapter attempts to establish ontologically some of what Einstein established in physics. Einstein was himself driven by ontological forms of argument. Seeing what might have been underneath and ...
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This chapter attempts to establish ontologically some of what Einstein established in physics. Einstein was himself driven by ontological forms of argument. Seeing what might have been underneath and behind some of Einstein's most basic thoughts should teach us something valuable. It presents a model that is not limited to particle-objects-in-space-time; it also fits well for explanations in terms of warps and woofs of space-time as infinitesimal energy-loops or superstrings. It is argued that space-time has properties, yet it is not itself had as a property or even a set of properties, and it could not exist without properties. A propertied space-time is a one-object universe and space-time satisfies the correct definitions of ‘substratum’.Less

Warps and Woofs of Einstein

C. B. Martin

Published in print: 2007-11-01

This chapter attempts to establish ontologically some of what Einstein established in physics. Einstein was himself driven by ontological forms of argument. Seeing what might have been underneath and behind some of Einstein's most basic thoughts should teach us something valuable. It presents a model that is not limited to particle-objects-in-space-time; it also fits well for explanations in terms of warps and woofs of space-time as infinitesimal energy-loops or superstrings. It is argued that space-time has properties, yet it is not itself had as a property or even a set of properties, and it could not exist without properties. A propertied space-time is a one-object universe and space-time satisfies the correct definitions of ‘substratum’.

The Axon models present the fundamental concepts that underlie the generation and propagation of the nerve impulses. This chapter includes a complete list of the equations that describe the ...
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The Axon models present the fundamental concepts that underlie the generation and propagation of the nerve impulses. This chapter includes a complete list of the equations that describe the Hodgkin-Huxley parallel conductance model specifically for squid axons, but these equations can be used to simulate nearly any action potential. The various currents generated by ionic conductances are individually described by their own equations. Ionic currents are controlled by membrane conductances and the appropriate electrochemical driving forces.Less

Equations Underlying the Axon Models

W. Otto FriesenJonathon A. Friesen

Published in print: 2009-12-01

The Axon models present the fundamental concepts that underlie the generation and propagation of the nerve impulses. This chapter includes a complete list of the equations that describe the Hodgkin-Huxley parallel conductance model specifically for squid axons, but these equations can be used to simulate nearly any action potential. The various currents generated by ionic conductances are individually described by their own equations. Ionic currents are controlled by membrane conductances and the appropriate electrochemical driving forces.

It is now widely recognized that the effective management of knowledge assets is a key requirement for securing competitive advantage in the emerging information economy. Yet the physical and ...
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It is now widely recognized that the effective management of knowledge assets is a key requirement for securing competitive advantage in the emerging information economy. Yet the physical and institutional differences between tangible assets and knowledge assets remain poorly understood. In the case of knowledge, the ownership and control of assets are becoming ever more separate, a phenomenon that is actually exacerbated by the phenomenon of learning. If we are to meet the challenges of the information economy, then we need a new approach to property rights based on a deeper theoretical understanding of knowledge assets. This book provides some of the key building blocks that are needed for a theory of knowledge assets. The author develops a conceptual framework, the Information-Space or I-Space, for exploring the way knowledge flows within and between organizations.Less

Max H. Boisot

Published in print: 1999-09-23

It is now widely recognized that the effective management of knowledge assets is a key requirement for securing competitive advantage in the emerging information economy. Yet the physical and institutional differences between tangible assets and knowledge assets remain poorly understood. In the case of knowledge, the ownership and control of assets are becoming ever more separate, a phenomenon that is actually exacerbated by the phenomenon of learning. If we are to meet the challenges of the information economy, then we need a new approach to property rights based on a deeper theoretical understanding of knowledge assets. This book provides some of the key building blocks that are needed for a theory of knowledge assets. The author develops a conceptual framework, the Information-Space or I-Space, for exploring the way knowledge flows within and between organizations.

Physics reveals a world composed of events arranged in a fixed configuration, like locations on a map. But where are we ourselves, the creatures who construct the map, to be found in the world it ...
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Physics reveals a world composed of events arranged in a fixed configuration, like locations on a map. But where are we ourselves, the creatures who construct the map, to be found in the world it presents? Where, in this seamless fabric presented by physics do we find the fleeting, centered world of experience, rich in color, sound, and sentiment, that we know from the inside? The question of the relationship between the world of physics and the world as seen through human eyes is one of the deepest, and most difficult in philosophy. The difficulty has many aspects. The world of physics is fixed and eternal; the world of experience is transient and changing. The world of physics is structure described in mathematical terms; the world of experience is rich with qualitative properties that can't be captured in mathematical description. The world of physics has no built-in perspective; the world of experience is always experience to a particular someone, from a standpoint in space and time. The problem spans metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and ethics, and expresses itself in the wider culture in the perceived clash between humanist and scientific views of the self. This book displays in a new way the common structure of these different aspects of the problem. An account of the structure of self-locating knowledge serves as the keystone for a broad vision of the place of the self in the physical universe. The vision preserves the completeness and closure of physical description, while leaving room for features of ourselves and our subjective views of the world that are at once real and incommunicable.Less

The Situated Self

J. T. Ismael

Published in print: 2007-01-18

Physics reveals a world composed of events arranged in a fixed configuration, like locations on a map. But where are we ourselves, the creatures who construct the map, to be found in the world it presents? Where, in this seamless fabric presented by physics do we find the fleeting, centered world of experience, rich in color, sound, and sentiment, that we know from the inside? The question of the relationship between the world of physics and the world as seen through human eyes is one of the deepest, and most difficult in philosophy. The difficulty has many aspects. The world of physics is fixed and eternal; the world of experience is transient and changing. The world of physics is structure described in mathematical terms; the world of experience is rich with qualitative properties that can't be captured in mathematical description. The world of physics has no built-in perspective; the world of experience is always experience to a particular someone, from a standpoint in space and time. The problem spans metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and ethics, and expresses itself in the wider culture in the perceived clash between humanist and scientific views of the self. This book displays in a new way the common structure of these different aspects of the problem. An account of the structure of self-locating knowledge serves as the keystone for a broad vision of the place of the self in the physical universe. The vision preserves the completeness and closure of physical description, while leaving room for features of ourselves and our subjective views of the world that are at once real and incommunicable.

This introductory chapter starts by summarizing the main conclusions of the earlier companion volume (European Integration and Supranational Governance), and describes the current volume as focusing ...
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This introductory chapter starts by summarizing the main conclusions of the earlier companion volume (European Integration and Supranational Governance), and describes the current volume as focusing on the institutionalism of Europe per se, rather than the question of how supranational arenas emerged and were institutionalized. It looks at the sources and consequences of institutionalization, i.e. the process through which European political space – supranational policy arenas or sites of governance, structured by European Union (EU) rules, procedures, and the activities of the EU’s organizations – has evolved. The five main sections of the chapter look at the institutionalist challenge, discuss institutions and institutionalization (institutional change, social and political space, institutions in relation to power, and rule-making and legitimacy), attempt to explain institutional change in the European Union (examining institutional innovation and its assessment), provide a brief overview of the book, and offer conclusions on the dynamics of institutionalization and the future of the European Union. The next nine chapters of the book are described as falling into three groups: the first set addresses the processes of institutionalization (Chs 2–4); the second set explores how specific European policy spaces have emerged, mutated, and stabilized through ‘endogenous’ processes of institutionalization (Chs 5–7); and the third set is concerned with the processes of institutional innovation – the creation of new policy spaces (Chs 8–10). A final chapter concludes by discussing the institutional logic of integration.Less

The Institutionalization of European Space

Alec Stone SweetNeil FligsteinWayne Sandholtz

Published in print: 2001-08-16

This introductory chapter starts by summarizing the main conclusions of the earlier companion volume (European Integration and Supranational Governance), and describes the current volume as focusing on the institutionalism of Europe per se, rather than the question of how supranational arenas emerged and were institutionalized. It looks at the sources and consequences of institutionalization, i.e. the process through which European political space – supranational policy arenas or sites of governance, structured by European Union (EU) rules, procedures, and the activities of the EU’s organizations – has evolved. The five main sections of the chapter look at the institutionalist challenge, discuss institutions and institutionalization (institutional change, social and political space, institutions in relation to power, and rule-making and legitimacy), attempt to explain institutional change in the European Union (examining institutional innovation and its assessment), provide a brief overview of the book, and offer conclusions on the dynamics of institutionalization and the future of the European Union. The next nine chapters of the book are described as falling into three groups: the first set addresses the processes of institutionalization (Chs 2–4); the second set explores how specific European policy spaces have emerged, mutated, and stabilized through ‘endogenous’ processes of institutionalization (Chs 5–7); and the third set is concerned with the processes of institutional innovation – the creation of new policy spaces (Chs 8–10). A final chapter concludes by discussing the institutional logic of integration.

This book introduces the modern field of 3+1 numerical relativity. It has been written in a way as to be as self-contained as possible, and assumes a basic knowledge of special relativity. Starting ...
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This book introduces the modern field of 3+1 numerical relativity. It has been written in a way as to be as self-contained as possible, and assumes a basic knowledge of special relativity. Starting from a brief introduction to general relativity, it discusses the different concepts and tools necessary for the fully consistent numerical simulation of relativistic astrophysical systems, with strong and dynamical gravitational fields. Among the topics discussed in detail are the following: the initial data problem, hyperbolic reductions of the field equations, gauge conditions, the evolution of black hole space-times, relativistic hydrodynamics, gravitational wave extraction, and numerical methods. There is also a final chapter with examples of some simple numerical space-times.Less

Introduction to 3+1 Numerical Relativity

Miguel Alcubierre

Published in print: 2008-04-10

This book introduces the modern field of 3+1 numerical relativity. It has been written in a way as to be as self-contained as possible, and assumes a basic knowledge of special relativity. Starting from a brief introduction to general relativity, it discusses the different concepts and tools necessary for the fully consistent numerical simulation of relativistic astrophysical systems, with strong and dynamical gravitational fields. Among the topics discussed in detail are the following: the initial data problem, hyperbolic reductions of the field equations, gauge conditions, the evolution of black hole space-times, relativistic hydrodynamics, gravitational wave extraction, and numerical methods. There is also a final chapter with examples of some simple numerical space-times.

Is the universe infinite, or does it have an edge beyond which there is, quite literally, nothing? Do we live in the only possible universe? Why does it have one time and three space dimensions — or ...
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Is the universe infinite, or does it have an edge beyond which there is, quite literally, nothing? Do we live in the only possible universe? Why does it have one time and three space dimensions — or does it? What is it made of? What does it mean when we hear that a new particle has been discovered? Will quantum mechanics eventually break down and give way to a totally new description of the world, one whose features we cannot even begin to imagine? This book aims to give a general overview of what physicists think they do and do not know in some representative frontier areas of contemporary physics. After sketching out the historical background, the book goes on to discuss the current situation and some of the open problems of cosmology, high-energy physics, and condensed-matter physics. This book focuses not so much on recent achievements as on the fundamental problems at the heart of the subject, and emphasizes the provisional nature of our present understanding of things.Less

The Problems of Physics

Anthony Leggett

Published in print: 2006-10-05

Is the universe infinite, or does it have an edge beyond which there is, quite literally, nothing? Do we live in the only possible universe? Why does it have one time and three space dimensions — or does it? What is it made of? What does it mean when we hear that a new particle has been discovered? Will quantum mechanics eventually break down and give way to a totally new description of the world, one whose features we cannot even begin to imagine? This book aims to give a general overview of what physicists think they do and do not know in some representative frontier areas of contemporary physics. After sketching out the historical background, the book goes on to discuss the current situation and some of the open problems of cosmology, high-energy physics, and condensed-matter physics. This book focuses not so much on recent achievements as on the fundamental problems at the heart of the subject, and emphasizes the provisional nature of our present understanding of things.

This book engages with major philosophical questions concerning time and space — a framework for the investigation being provided by the debate between the absolutists and the relationists, so ...
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This book engages with major philosophical questions concerning time and space — a framework for the investigation being provided by the debate between the absolutists and the relationists, so between Newton and Leibniz, and their followers. The investigation brings to the fore questions of the nature and reality of time and space, and leads on to more recent debates, as those relating to their possible infinitude, to anti-realism, time travel, temporal parts, geometry, convention, and the direction of time. These in turn raise more general issues, issues involving such concepts as those of identity, objectivity, causation, facts, and verifiability. Their examination falls within metaphysics, thought of as the investigation and analysis of fundamental philosophical concepts, but there is also metaphysics of a more contentious character, where the subject-matter is provided by propositions which transcend what can be known either through experience or by pure reasoning. In this connection, a central aim is to show how, without dismissing them as nonsensical, we may arrive at a fruitful interpretation of such propositions. While the focus of the work is not primarily on issues which presume an understanding of physical theory, it is hoped that the arguments developed will throw some light on relevant scientific concerns.Less

Time, Space, and Metaphysics

Bede Rundle

Published in print: 2009-10-01

This book engages with major philosophical questions concerning time and space — a framework for the investigation being provided by the debate between the absolutists and the relationists, so between Newton and Leibniz, and their followers. The investigation brings to the fore questions of the nature and reality of time and space, and leads on to more recent debates, as those relating to their possible infinitude, to anti-realism, time travel, temporal parts, geometry, convention, and the direction of time. These in turn raise more general issues, issues involving such concepts as those of identity, objectivity, causation, facts, and verifiability. Their examination falls within metaphysics, thought of as the investigation and analysis of fundamental philosophical concepts, but there is also metaphysics of a more contentious character, where the subject-matter is provided by propositions which transcend what can be known either through experience or by pure reasoning. In this connection, a central aim is to show how, without dismissing them as nonsensical, we may arrive at a fruitful interpretation of such propositions. While the focus of the work is not primarily on issues which presume an understanding of physical theory, it is hoped that the arguments developed will throw some light on relevant scientific concerns.

The results of the special theory of relativity are so peculiar that a huge number of experiments have been done to check its validity. The contraction of space, the slowing down of time, and the ...
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The results of the special theory of relativity are so peculiar that a huge number of experiments have been done to check its validity. The contraction of space, the slowing down of time, and the equivalence of mass and energy had to be experimentally verified before they could be accepted; and they were. Electron-positron annihilation, accelerator experiments, muon decay measurements, and a host of other experiments were performed. All verified special relativity and none contradicted it.Less

It really is true

Louis A. Girifalco

Published in print: 2007-09-20

The results of the special theory of relativity are so peculiar that a huge number of experiments have been done to check its validity. The contraction of space, the slowing down of time, and the equivalence of mass and energy had to be experimentally verified before they could be accepted; and they were. Electron-positron annihilation, accelerator experiments, muon decay measurements, and a host of other experiments were performed. All verified special relativity and none contradicted it.